Nick Pretasky

Founder, Listener, and Coach

 He has been leading and coaching organizations for 20 years.   Nick found his leadership roots as he was originally trained in outdoor leadership at Southern Cross University in New South Wales, Australia.  He worked as an outdoor leader and wilderness guide from Maine to Alaska.  This is where he originally founded his motto: As leaders, we can’t summit the mountain without our team.  He consistently draws on the mindsets, skills, and experiences he learned in the backcountry as leverage to better show up in the front country. Nick recently founded Humanistic Leadership, LLC.  He is determined and excited to support leaders with the core human skills they need in order to excel in today’s dynamic world of work.  He often supports topics of self-awareness, components of trust, deep listening, critical conversations, and gratitude. He works with leaders to build strong and effective strategies that have positive and long-lasting effects on people and organizations.

Nick graduated with a Master’s degree in Education from Marian University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  He continues his journey as a lifelong learner by taking master classes in positive psychology.  He finds the direct connections between psychology and leadership to be fascinating. He has worked as a vice president of a non-profit, a classroom teacher, a school leader, and a director of continuous school improvement.  He has a wealth of experience coaching school principals, district leadership teams, and superintendents.  Listening, supporting, and inspiring leaders is his jam. He loves to talk about innovative and humanistic ways to ensure equity of voice, shared commitment, and organizational conditions that set everyone up for success.

We all need opportunities to recharge.  When not supporting and coaching leaders and organizations, you can find Nick enjoying the outdoors or coaching basketall.  Nick feels extremely fortunate whenever he gets to spend his time with his wonderful wife, Krissy; two amazing daughters, Anika and Naomi; and their yellow lab, Nala.